This could be the only surviving stone
of a four-poster stone circle inside Mayburgh henge
(95Kb)
This
enormous henge monument consists of a gigantic heavy grey bank, 117m (383ft)
in diameter, composed of one-and-a-half million river-washed cobbles. Crowned by trees, the bank varies from 2.5 to 5m (8-16ft) in height and is broken by a single entrance
facing east toward King Arthur's Round Table, a fine little henge about 400m away.
A single standing stone of volcanic ash, 2.8m (9ft 2ins) high, located near the centre, is reputed to be the only survivor
of four stones that were still there in the 19th
century. According to the 16th century antiquarian William Camden, these stones were at the corner of a 18.3 x 16.2m (60 x 53ft) rectangle in the middle of the
earthwork. In Scotland circles of four stones are known as Four-Posters, but they are much smaller: the one possibly built inside Mayburgh's henge
would have been twenty times the average Scottish size.
Four other stones once flanked the entrance. Unusually, Mayburgh has no internal ditch; the soil was scraped up
around its rim - a technique commonly used for the building of Irish henges. In late 19th century,
a broken Cumbrian axe was found buried at the entrance. This could indicate this henge was connected
with the trade in stone axes.
When William Stukeley saw Mayburgh's henge in 1725, the stones were blown to pieces with gunpowder; one now stands ten foot high... another
lies along... and some more lie at the entrance within side, others without, and fragments all about. Local lore says
that one of the men employed in the demolition of the stones hanged himself while another turned lunatic.
This could be the only surviving stone
of a four-poster stone circle inside Mayburgh henge
(95Kb) 
